But Booker is just doing what mayors do when the spotlight shines: extolling the virtues of a once-dilapidated city trying to push through an urban renewal plan.

“I’m a tremendous supporter of the team and have been (since) before they ever came to the city (in 2007),” Booker told the Newark Star-Ledger the day of the series opener. “I’m a supporter of almost their entire ownership group. In fact, some of them are very good friends of mine.”

Some other recent Booker barbs:

He called Vanderbeek a “pathetic penny-pincher” in the wake of an arbitration ruling that found the city owed the Devils $600,000 more than the team owed the city in rent.

Booker called Vanderbeek “a Wall Street millionaire that played into every stereotype that’s out there.”

Vanderbeek’s responses:

He said Booker has “hit rough political waters,” is “focused on higher political ambitions” and often “simply hurls mistruths.”

At its root, the feud is about money — promises made and broken, contracts written and rewritten since Booker took over from Sharpe James as mayor in 2006. (James, who lured the Devils to Newark from East Rutherford, later went to jail on five counts of fraud in a case unrelated to the team.)

While the clash of wills has made for an interesting sideshow, there’s no disputing the fact the Devils are deep in debt. One member of the ownership group wants out, and it’s been rumoured the team is on the brink of bankruptcy with the NHL paying team bills just like before the Phoenix Coyotes went bankrupt in 2009.

Commissioner Gary Bettman says there’s no reason to worry.

“Jeff Vanderbeek is working on both refinancing the debt on the club and an equity raise,” Bettman said. “He appears to be fairly confident that he can pull this off in due course in the next few weeks. Since I’ve been in touch with the banks on a regular basis, we seem to be on track.”

On a personal level, the off-ice battle has pitted Booker, a high-profile Democrat who makes the rounds on talk shows such as Real Time with Bill Maher, against New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a Republican and avowed Rangers fan who says Booker has reneged on contracts.

“It’s a clash of perspectives and a clash of egos,” says Marc Holzer, dean of the school of public affairs and administration at Rutgers-Newark. “It gets kind of intense. The mayor is an intense personality. He feels it personally. He’s trying to represent the best interests of the city. The city was made promises that didn’t come through.”

The Devils haven’t paid rent to the city since the Prudential Center opened in 2007 because of a parking dispute. An arbitrator recently sided with the Devils, ordering the city to pay $2.7 million per year in parking money to the team. Combined with other payments and fees, the city owes the team about $15 million, a few hundred thousand more than the Devils owe the city in back rent and other fees.

Some observers say Booker was so bitter at Vanderbeek that he reduced the police presence for Devils games. Police routinely line the streets between the rink and main train station as well as parking lots.

“This had been boiling for a time,” said Holzer. “Then you get two personalities who are very outspoken. Then it looks like Newark is pulling police out of the arena area. Then there were some incidents of crime, some break-ins. So that looked bad.

“That got everybody excited.”

The team and the $375 million Prudential Center are at the core of plans for an economic renewal of the downtown area, where new apartments and head offices are starting to appear.

“The Devils are a nice addition,” said Holzer. “They bring people in from the suburbs. I don’t think it provides a lot of permanent jobs in Newark, but it’s a good symbol. It brings a lot of people in and out of Newark and they understand it’s a safe place to be.”

The soap opera doesn’t seem to have affected the players.

“We’re hockey players, so we don’t worry about it,” said forward Patrik Elias.

“Especially this time of year,” added forward Ryan Carter. “We’ve got enough on our own plate.”

The Stanley Cup final could be a double-edged sword for Booker.

On one hand, NBC’s telecasts are showing Newark in a favourable light.

More on thestar.com

We value respectful and thoughtful discussion. Readers are encouraged to flag comments that fail to meet the standards outlined in our
Community Code of Conduct.
For further information, including our legal guidelines, please see our full website
Terms and Conditions.